Transcript Slide 1

Jahangir Hasan Masum
This presentation is an effort to
highlight collective learning's….
 Knowledge & experience of the poor & marginalized women
in climate change adaptation needs to be highlighted in the
international forums through real life evidences.
 Adaptation with the multifaceted climate risks is beyond the
capacity of single poor women but if they act together the
possibility of survival against climate vulnerability will
increase in many folds than any individual intervention.
 Determination & willingness of the poor women to use their
all available resources for a better future for their children is
the cornerstone of the community-driven adaptation
measures.
People’s Climate Change
Adaptation Action Plan (PCAP)
Typical social & economic situation of
women who prepared PCAP
 Majority of the poor & marginalized women’s total household
income is around US$ 50 per month. At least 2 household
members are involved with income generating activities but one
of them is child labor.
 Almost 90% of the women live in their own family house which is
made of straw/leaf/polythene/bamboo/ damaged or old tin.
Majority of the women are landless except the homestead.
 In Khulna, Bagerhat & Satkhira areas, many women have no
income source and their husbands killed by tigers.
 In Khagrachari District all women belongs to indigenous
community. In Shariatpur, a significant portion of the women are
living with disability and majority of the women households have
person with the disability. In Cox’s bazaar a notable portion of
the women are widow.
PCAP Development Areas
People’s Climate Change Adaptation
Action Plan Development Process
 Using a group-based approach, 10 local NGOs facilitated
PCAP development process in their respective community
involving 4800 households under 240 groups (50% women)
to devise national, 20 district level, 40 Upazilla level, 80
union level and 240 village level (I for women & 1 for men
in each level) People’s Climate Change Adaptation Action
Plan (PCAP) according to urgent, immediate, short-term,
long-term categories.
 The ultimate focus of the PCAP is to support and enhance
community resilience of a number of key development
sectors (food production and food security, water resources
management, coastal zone, renewable energy etc.).
PCAP requires consistent capacity
development of facilitator NGOs
PCAP recognized who are the real
observers of climate change..
Transforming Women into a Grassroots
Climate Leader
Examples of most common PCAPs
 Homestead vegetable cultivation with saline/ drought tolerant species
and varieties of vegetables for family nutrition
 Developing and selling bio-fertilizers and bio pesticides for Organic
farming
 Dry seed bed/Floating seed bed for seedling availability and subsequent
transplantation in time
 Social Enterprise: Goat rearing, Duck rearing, fish cultivation in pond
 Integrated Nursery & Plantation to supply fuel wood and also for
protection from cyclone, flood, flush flood and high tide
 Apiculture (wild & domestic honey productions for sales & household
nutrition)
Challenges for PCAP to differentiate
people’s adaptation or mitigations needs
 Alternative Energy to supply electricity and other energy
products to the rural community where there is no way of
government grid in the next 20 years.
 Distributing and installing household biogas systems
(family-sized bio-digesters fueled by household livestock &
poultry waste produces methane gas suitable for cooking).
 Develop and deploy village specific electricity generation
system and package based on Solar Technology
 water & sanitary service for the marginalized women
 Improved cooking stove for household level energy
efficiency and protecting women from health hazards
The Circle of Hope
Looking towards gender-responsive climate resilient
development approach
climate change adaptation is a
people’s issue, an issue of local
governance
Initially, we were focused on
bottom-top approach to counter
act the existing top-bottom
approach. However, the
learning from the women, we
agreed that the Circle of Hope
perhaps the best framework to
encompass more women in the
Solidarity circle along with the
growth of the groups.
The courage of women to care for the
present and future is the key to adaptation
A case study on the survival of the poor women groups against the
ravage of super tornado in Barisal district of Bangladesh
2.15 to 2.17 pm, October 08, 2010
“The tornado has told us that
climate is changing and
changing faster than our
understanding. Since our
grandfather had no idea about
tornado, we believe we
humans are somehow
responsible and we have to
work together.”
One tornado victim women
The tornado was
unknown to both of
them
(grandmother &
grandchild)
She is standing still
and gradually
rebuilding the life
because she knows
it is not the curse of
God..
The tornado not only
destroyed the houses
but also the natural
resources that sustains
livelihoods of the poor
No house to sleep, no money
to rebuild the house but
determination to get the
livelihood back is much more
than ever before. The 8th day
after the tornado
Strategy for linking people’s will with
political will for a climate resilient today
 Develop capacity of the grassroots
NGOs/CBOs/Women groups so that they can extract the
hidden strength of women and transforming them into
confident person who understand their role and go for
it with courage to accelerate climate resilient
development both today & tomorrow
 Influence government to address the unmet adaptation
needs. just demand is not enough, we need to provide
details proposal that GO officials or Elected leaders or
& international supporters can pursue to the higher
level as their own proposal to enhance community
resilience to the impacts of climate change.
 Recognize poor & marginalized women’s potential on
climate change issues at community level and accept women
as equal working partner as men in adaptation activities.
 Establish strong and effective women climate leadership in
planning, decision-making and implementation of climate
change adaptation actions and implement the pro-poor
women-led development model to address climate induced
livelihood vulnerability.
 Create an enabling adaptive environment where poor
women can collectively contribute to maintain social peace
through sharing resources or working together for
sustaining their lives and generating assets for adaptation of
the future generations.
..we would like to highlight that..
Knowledge fuels the courage in women
and the courage in women makes them
demanding empowerment and the
demand of empowerment gradually make
them leader and if they are in leadership,
then the same process will be going on.
CDP is facilitating women-led development process
involving 2400 women-headed households in
Bangladesh.